[NHCOLL-L:5214] Exploring the future of natural history museums, and the world

[Elizabeth Merritt]

Dear SPNHC Colleagues,

At the AAM meeting in Houston this May, artist Tracy Hicks<http://www.tracyhicks.com/> will create an installation on the future of natural history museums, and the influence of natural history museums on the future of the earth.

One of the things I love about Tracy's work is the interplay of meaning between preservation (in museums), destruction (of environments, of species), transience (of individuals) and permanence (of species and environments, we hope!) That's what it makes me think about, anyway. I hope it provokes similar musings in conference attendees, as we invite them to think about how what natural history museums do now can shape the future world, and what natural history museums may look like in the future.

I would like to rally some thoughtful, creative SPNHC members to help explore this theme through guest posts on the CFM Blog<http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/> and short videos for CFM's Voices of the Future<http://www.futureofmuseums.org/thinking/Voices.cfm> project on YouTube. (Chris Norris<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89vSvum2RM8> was an early contributor to Voices.)

Please contact me at emerritt at aam-us.org if you are interested in participating in this exploration of the future!


Relevant Links:
Tracy's web site http://www.tracyhicks.com
AAM annual meeting http://www.aam-us.org/am11/
CFM Blog http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com
CFM YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/FutureofMuseums
Yours from the future,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Merritt
Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums
T: 202.218. 7661  |  F: 202.289.6578
American Association of Museums
1575 Eye Street N.W., Suite 400  |  Washington, DC 20005

[CFM logo] AAM's Center for the Future of Museums (CFM) helps museums explore the
cultural, political and economic challenges facing society and devise strategies
to shape a better tomorrow. CFM is a think tank and research and design lab for
fostering creativity and helping museums transcend traditional boundaries to
serve society in new ways. For more information, visit www.futureofmuseums.org<http://www.futureofmuseums.org/>.

The American Association of Museums (AAM) has been bringing museums together since 1906,
helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing
advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 17,000 individual,
3,000 institutional and 300 corporate members, AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a
vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human
experience, past, present and future. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org<http://www.aam-us.org>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20110127/d676ad07/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 15356 bytes
Desc: image002.png
Url : http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20110127/d676ad07/attachment.png 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 4515 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
Url : http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20110127/d676ad07/attachment.jpg